Mullen’s Parting Warning to Islamabad

09/23/2011
09/23/2011 by Richard Weitz The comments this week by Admiral Mike Mullen, the soon to retire Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, at perhaps his final congressional testimony, about the continuing links between Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Haqqani terrorist network were a welcome act of shock…

India: Bad cop in a predicament?

09/22/2011
By Karsten Von Hoesslin, Senior Analyst, Risk Intelligence Strategic Insights, No. 32, May 2011 09/22/2011 - On 29 September 2010, the Panama flagged asphalt tanker ASPHALT VENTURE was hijacked by Somali pirates off the Tanzanian coast. On 15 April 2011, after 200 days of detention and an estimated US$3.2 to…

The Role of the Osprey in Operation Odyssey Dawn

09/22/2011
09/22/2011 - During our annual visit to New River to get caught up on Osprey developments, Second Line of Defense sat down with Lt. Col. Boniface who was the XO for the Aviation Combat Element (ACE) for the 26th MEU. We have published recently an interview with Col. Desens, the…

A New Project Solarium

09/20/2011
By Dr. Richard Weitz 09/21/2011 - Many think tanks have been launching new “Project Solarium” exercises designed to assess the advantages, costs, risks, and implications of several plausible U.S. grand strategies in coming years. These exercises seek to identify the most important trends, drivers, and potential "black swans" that could…

The Euro Crisis and the World Economic Outlook

09/19/2011
09/19/2011 by Dr. Harald Malmgren The following is a summary of a presentation being given by Dr. Malmgren to the CEBM Teleconference 20 September 2011 In 2007 and 2008 the US was at the epicenter of global financial shocks, although the first big bank to require rescue was BNP Paribas,…

South Asian Proliferation Dynamics

09/19/2011
By Dr. Richard Weitz 09/19/2011 - Last week, I attended a Trilateral Relations in Asia Conference in Phuket, Thailand that examined the political, economic, and security-related interactions among China, India, and Pakistan. Perhaps the most interesting dynamics occur in the nuclear realm. [caption id="attachment_24142" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="The Triangular Dyanmic Among…

South East Asia’s Dynamic Maritime Threat Environment

09/15/2011
By Karsten Von Hoesslin, Senior Analyst, Risk Intelligence Strategic Insights, No. 30, February 2011 09/25/2011 Overview A considerable increase in reported incidents occurred between 2009 and 2010 with elevated levels of sophisticated piracy and armed sea robbery in the South China Sea, the Sulu Sea, and nearing the end of…

Towards a Light, Agile, and Lethal Army

09/15/2011
09/15/2011 Technology response to the lean years ahead? by Michael W. Wynne, Former Undersecretary, Acquisition, Technology and Logistics. From the maneuvers of Gen. Washington, through the intensity and brilliance of those serving on both sides of the Civil War, extending in both World Wars and Korea, with Island Hopping, and the…